God Gives us Bread From Heaven

November 20, 2022 Thanksgiving Sunday John 6:25-35 God gives us bread from heaven Year C Opening Song Welcome Call to Worship We dwell in a land God has loaned to us Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth. We come with gladness to worship God. We enter God’s presence with joyous song. The first fruits of our labor belong to God Rejoice in the privilege of sharing God’s bounty. God has made us, and we belong to God. We are the sheep of God’s pasture. The God of peace greets us in this time of worship Enter with thanksgiving and heartfelt praise. We thank God for steadfast love to sustain us. We praise God for faithfulness to all generations. (Gathered by Love, Lavon Bayler) Song Come Ye Thankful People Come UMH 694 Children’s Sermon Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Needed: nothing Children’s Sermon Greet children with, Happy Thanksgiving! And, of course, Thanksgiving is all about giving thanks, isn’t it? We thank God for all the good things He’s done for us. What are some things that you want to thank God for this year? (Share something that you’re thankful for.) I want to play a little game today. Because the Apostle Paul wrote that we should… (Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18.) “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” “Give thanks in all circumstances.” That means we should thank God when things are good and when things are bad. Let’s practice. Let’s pretend that you’re all on a sports team and I’m your coach. If our team just won a game, what could we thank God for? (We could thank Him for letting us win.) But what if our team lost? Then, what could we thank God for? (We could thank Him for letting us play well and have fun together.) Okay. Second example: What if it was a beautiful, sunshiny day outside? What could we thank God for? (We could thank Him for the nice weather.) But what if it was rainy all day? What could we thank God for, then? (We could thank Him for the rain to help the grass and other plants grow.) Okay. Last example: What if someone was sick, and we prayed that they would get better and then, they did get better? What could we thank God for in that situation? (We could thank God for healing the sick person and making them healthy again.) But what if we prayed, and God didn’t heal the person? What if the person died? What could we thank God for, then? (We could thank God for the good life the person had and that we’ll see them in Heaven again someday.) See? Whether things are good or bad, we can always thank God for something. That’s why Paul tells us to “Give thanks in all circumstances.” Let’s pray and give thanks now. Closing Prayer Father God, we thank You for being a good God. You are so good that no matter what happens, we can always thank You for something. Help us to see the good in every situation so that we can always give You thanks. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. (Rev. Stephen R. Wilson) Scripture John 6:25-35 Sermon – God gives us Bread from Heaven Have You Taken Inventory Lately? The renown teacher and author Dr. David McLennon tells a story of his very first job in a small town general store. This was the day before mails and supermarket chains at least it was in his community. At age thirteen he was hired as a handy boy. He would sweep the flour, bag items for customers, put up stock. On one particular Saturday, he recalled., he heard the owner say to one of the clerks "It’s that time of the year again, it’s time to take inventory." Dr. McLennon Wrote that this was a word that had not yet entered into his vocabulary. When an opportune moment arrived, he went up to the kindly older man and asked, Sir, what is an inventory? Patiently the owner explained that it was a time when you made a list of everything that you had--from groceries on the shelves to wrapping paper and string. Still somewhat puzzled, the young McLennon then asked, Why? "Well, responded the owner, its easy to forget exactly how much you have each year. Every now and then you have to take an inventory just to see what all you have." That little story, to me, pretty well sums up what Thanksgiving is all about. It is a time when each of us needs to ask ourselves the question: Have I taken inventory of my life lately? Have I made an effort to count all the things that I do have in life instead of complaining about the things that I don’t have. It is a good exercise especially when we are of a mind to brood or whine in self pity. Have you taken inventory lately? What I am suggesting here is not some shallow "count your blessings" platitude. But from time to time, in a genuine kind of a way, we need to sit down and do some talking to ourselves about all of the gifts and opportunities and challenges that God has given each one of us. Perhaps there is a deep underlying wisdom in the children's poem that says: "Count your blessings one by one, and you might be surprised what the Lord has done." Staff, www.eSermons.com I think that is one of the most important things that we can do for Thanksgiving is to take account of our blessings. There are some years when it may take a moment. But we have to realize that God is there for us in the midst of our lives. Sometimes we have to do it like Robinson Coruso – who when stuck on a desert island, would write down all of the bad things in his life, but for each bad thing he would also write a good thing. He was amazed to realize that he really did have good things happen to him. His list of good and bad was always balanced. Then there is the story of John Witherspoon, one of the signers of the declaration of independence. He was also president of the College of New Jersey at Princeton. He was also a presbyterian minister. One day he was in his office, when his neighbor burst in to tell him of a horrific accident that he had had. His horse had bolted, his buggy was smashed and he narrowly escaped injury. He wanted Witherspoon to pray with him to thank god for sparring his life. John Witherspoon indeed prayed, but before he did so, he told his neighbor that he had a far greater testimony. He told his neighbor that he too rode his buggy over that same road this morning. But not one things went wrong. His horse was calm and his buggy was okay. He too narrowly escaped death. He thanked God for being with him and keeping him safe. God got us all safely here today. God has been with us this morning, God has been with us all of our lives. And yet how many of us thank God daily for bringing us through and allowing us to go about our daily life. When things go wrong, we don’t have a problem asking why me. Yet when we have a feast and things are going well, how many of us ask why me? Why have you blessed me so extravagantly – and yet we are blessed by God each and every day. So today what is it that we have to be thankful for? How has God blessed us today? What is it that we have to be thankful for as a church? What is it that we have to be thankful for as a world. One big thing that we can be thankful for – we all survived a pandemic. We all know that the pandemic is not over, but we can be thankful that the world has found the courage to move on. For the first time in a long time, this thanksgiving we are free to make plans, to be with family, to move and go where we want to. This year we have a lot to be grateful for. Thanksgiving of course is a national holiday, and yet it is not considered a Christian holiday. There is nothing in the bible that tells us to get together as a nation in order to say thank you. And yet the bible is full of stories of thanksgiving, of celebrations, and of living a life of gratitude. John 6 is a story of gratitude. In chapter 5, and the beginning of chapter 6 – Jesus was on the beach teaching when 5000 men and their families showed up to listen to him, and he realized that they were listening to his words, they had been there all day, and that they must be hungry. This is the story of the feeding of the 5000 – where Jesus talks 5 loaves of bread and some fish and everyone has something to be thankful for that day. This is the first major gathering of what are called rice Christians. I would imagine that you have never heard of that term. A rice Christian is someone who only shows up for something religious when food is being served. We all would like to believe that we are such good people – and that we are so in live with God. But the reality is food is always a major draw for any gathering on any day. We are having a full meal for coffee hour – today should be a good day for us all. I don’t have a problem admitting that I am a rice Christian – I love food. I love the idea of eating. Every Saturday – I spend my whole day watching channel 11 – because they have cooking shows on all day. I don’t even bother to make the recipes, I just love watching food on tv. There is this soul food restaurant in Georgia – every day at 7am they do a video of their buffet, highlighting all of the food that they have and they put it on Facebook. OMG – watching this video is the highlight of my day, it has become my daily devotion. Now I will never drive to Georgia just to eat at this restaurant – Chicago has plenty of soul food restaurants- But somehow just watching their food feeds my spirit. So in John 6 – Jesus feeds the 5000. But he also chastises them for thinking that the gospel is just about food – even though it really is. Jesus tells us – you came to listen to me, not because you were looking for spiritual miracles, but because you ate all of the food you wanted. He doesn’t say that that is a bad thing, he ways that we shouldn’t be in search of food that does not last. Jesus doesn’t have a problem feeding us, he just reminds us that there is more to life than food. He gives us food, but he also gives us life. There are 3 lessons for us in the book of John – Jesus is the provider of our bread, Jesus is the bread of life because he is the word of God, and that Jesus is the bread of the church – communion and baptism. Jesus does not just feed us, Jesus encourages us to think beyond our needs and the needs of the world for something more. In the book of John, Jesus tells us that he is the living bread and that he is the living water of life. When we take communion and take his bread and his juice, we get so much more than food. Living water is water that moves an has a life of its own – like a river. Living bread on the other hand – is bread that has yeast. Yeast is what makes the bread rise, and gives you the power to make all difference kinds of bread. The metaphor of Jesus, the Bread of Life, is a metaphor that meets hungering humans where we think we are empty in our stomachs but then points us to where our real emptiness lies in our souls. Jesus' image goes through our stomachs to get to our souls. One thing that makes bread such a good medium and metaphor to convey the image of soul-sustaining nourishment is the life-giving process it goes through to become a fragrant loaf. Except for a few special unleavened varieties, what really makes bread for most of us is yeast. A tiny one-celled organism that grows and metabolizes its own food with great speed, yeast organisms "work" in the dough, slightly fermenting and releasing gases so that the bread begins to rise. This natural process is common in many foods yeast organisms often get into and ferment many things we didn't plan on. Ever find yourself spitting out a big swig of too-old orange juice? The taste that tingled on your tongue was produced by yeast. Yeast is ubiquitous. Indeed, part of the challenge of Passover preparations is to create completely unleavened bread (matzo) for the celebration. Part of the pre-festival celebration involves a ritual "search" through the house with a feather, to seek out and sweep away any yeast that may remain inside and could contaminate the matzo. Jesus, the Bread of Life, is energized in each one of us by divine yeast by the Spirit of the living God, who sent Christ to be among us, to be for us, to be in us. To benefit fully from this Bread of Life, we must keep our lives, our spirits, "yeasty" vital and ever growing. What can you do to create "yeast" in your soul? Here's one suggestion. Try using "y-e-a-s-t" as an acronym for your spiritual attitude. "Yes." Are you saying "yes" to nourishing possibilities the Bread of Life is offering you? You've heard of the "placebo" effect. It's when your body thinks it's getting something helpful and healing, and so generates a helpful and healing response throughout your system. But scientists are now talking equally about the flip side of the "placebo" effect. They're calling it the "nocebo" effect. It's when your inability to think "yes," your negative mood and outlook, your worried fixation on worst-case scenarios, can keep the "nocebo" effect working in your physiology. (For more on the "nocebo" effect, see the recent book of Harvard Medical School professor Herbert Benson, Timeless Healing [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996].) Because of the "Seven First Words of the Christian" "I can do all things through Christ" a yeasty spirit thinks "YES." "Energize." Why is it that the Energizer Bunny that keeps going and going is always going somewhere else the night the lights go out and you dig out your flashlight?! Unlike batteries, however, a properly maintained yeast colony can keep going and going and going. Ever make sourdough bread using "sourdough starter"? "Starter" is really a combination of yeast cultures, water and flour. You dip out what you need for the day's biscuits, bread or pancakes, give the rest of the starter a stir, "feed" it more flour and water, and tuck it back in your frig. In pioneer days, women treasured their "starter" and nurtured it along for years. Sometimes one starter was passed on from mother to daughter to granddaughter. That's perpetual energy. And that is what the Bread of Life can bring to your own spirit. "Access." In order to be continually fed by the Bread of Life, we must keep in constant touch with the source of life's true energy supply. Living out of the stored power of the Spirit enables us to be fed by Christ's gift any time we need it. We can access this always available power reserve in various ways. For some of us, direct intercessory prayer brings us the closest to God's Spirit and God's love. For others, music opens the soul and sets it resonating with the Spirit. For many, creating and/or contemplating works of art, form within us the prayers that enable us to reach out and grab the gift of life. Stanly Kunitz once called "art" the "chalice into which we pour transcendence" (As quoted by R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense [St.Louis: Chalice Press], 83). Find your own unique way of accessing the energy of bread ... and you will never go hungry. "Search." Today's crowds thought they were seeking the Bread of Life. All they were really looking for was a free lunch. Jesus' words to them, his corrections and counsel, were intended to make the hungering crowd search their spirits for their true motives and desires. Likewise, when we feel filled-up with power or contentments we should search our own spirits to make certain we are feasting on what God provides, not on what our own egos or selfish desires have cooked up. "Trust." If we are filling up on the Bread of Life, we should be able to trust in the Spirit's presence and power in our lives. It is that trust that allows us to take what appears to others as "risks." Trusting in the Spirit lets us "go for it" when conventional wisdom or cautious hedging would advise us to sit on the sidelines. When our spirits are resting in trust, they can do anything. For we know no matter where we go, no matter what difficulties we may encounter, a constant food supply is always at hand, always guaranteed. Only Jesus can satisfy the hungry heart. Only Jesus has the Words of Eternal Life. We are all rice Christians, in search of something that is going to fill us up. I listened to a sermon by Zan Holmes, who is a retired Methodist minister – who said that the good news is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. The only place to find living bread that will last forever is in Jesus christ. I hope that you are hungry this morning – today we have plenty of food – food for our bellies, but also food for our spirit. We can be grateful for what God has done for us. But gratefulness is only the beginning of our faith. It gives us that faith to feed others. Or at least to tell them where they can get a good piece of bread. Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow rice Christians. May we find an abundance of gratitude in our lives this week. Just as I look forward everyday to watching that soul food buffet, I will use that as my cue to go to God in prayer and devotion – to take account of all that God has done for me that day. I hope that we all remember to say thank you everyday for what God has done for us. Amen. Song – Now Thank We All our God UMH 102 Prayer God of infinite patience and power, how it must try your patience to watch us hurl ourselves into a season of greed and grumbling. Your blessings, your bounty, have been poured out to us that we may be strengthened to be your people in service to others. Yet we persist in attaching ourselves to the great “gimmies” of our world--“gimmie toys, gimmie wealth, gimmie power.” Today we have gathered here with an opportunity to step out of the race to possess, to praise you and thank you for the wonderful ways in which you have blessed our lives. We spend a lot of time looking for the big blessings, when all around us are the delightful blessings of everyday living--family, home, friends, the ability to enjoy laughter and share tears. There are so many ways in which you have touched our lives with your love. Help us develop for all of our lives an attitude of gratitude, never failing to thank you each day for your love and your blessings. Help us reach out to one another and to all those in need with this compassionate love. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name, AMEN. ( United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (do not Print) Almighty, Creator God, we humbly bring our gifts to you this day. On Calvary’s cross, your son redefined for the world what it meant to rule, what it meant to be a king. In his life, teaching and interacting with people, Jesus redefined what it means to give in a way that pleases God. May we in this season live and give in a way that reflects the reign over us and the one who lives within us. In the exalted name of Christ, we pray. Amen. (Luke 23:33-43) (Discipleship Ministries) Prayer of Thanksgiving For all the ways you love us, we say THANK YOU! For the ways you provide for us, we say THANK YOU! For the opportunity to give, we say THANK YOU! For the kingdom work this offering will do, we say THANK YOU! For letting us be a part of your work, we say THANK YOU! May the thankful words on our lips ( ReWorship Blogspot) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook The bread of heaven gives life to the believer. Receive the bread, eat and live. We will turn to God daily for nourishment. We will give thanks with grateful hearts. The bread of heaven gives life to the church. Share the bread; share your stories. We will gather in the community of faith. We will share the bread and share our lives. The bread of heaven gives life to the world. Pass on the gift with joy to neighbors near and far. We will bless the world with acts of love. This is our highest thanksgiving to God. Amen. Amen. ( Gathered by Love, Lavon Baylor) Community Time Benediction Beloved of God, place your whole trust in God’s absolute abundant love. Feel the powerful presence of God in your life and know that God’s blessings are with you. Go in peace, and may God’s peace always be with you. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations Humor: We're Getting a Divorce An elderly man in Phoenix calls his son in New York and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough." "Pop, what are you talking about?" the son screams. "We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the old man says. "We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her." Then he hangs up. Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone. "Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts, "I'll take care of this." She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at the old man, "You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. "Okay," he says, "They're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own fares." Traditional Back during the dark days of 1929, a group of ministers in the Northeast, all graduates of the Boston School of Theology, gathered to discuss how they should conduct their Thanksgiving Sunday services. Things were about as bad as they could get, with no sign of relief. The bread lines were depressingly long, the stock market had plummeted, and the term Great Depression seemed an apt description for the mood of the country. The ministers thought they should only lightly touch upon the subject Thanksgiving in deference to the human misery all about them. After all, there was to be thankful for. But it was Dr. William L. Stiger, pastor of a large congregation in the city that rallied the group. This was not the time, he suggested, to give mere passing mention to Thanksgiving, just the opposite. This was the time for the nation to get matters in perspective and thank God for blessings always present, but perhaps suppressed due to intense hardship. I suggest to you the ministers struck upon something. The most intense moments of thankfulness are not found in times of plenty, but when difficulties abound. Think of the Pilgrims that first Thanksgiving. Half their number dead, men without a country, but still there was thanksgiving to God. Their gratitude was not for something but in something. It was that same sense of gratitude that lead Abraham Lincoln to formally establish the first Thanksgiving Day in the midst of national civil war, when the butcher’s list of casualties seemed to have no end and the very nation struggled for survival. Perhaps in your own life, right now, intense hardship. You are experiencing your own personal Great Depression. Why should you be thankful this day? May I suggest three things? 1. We must learn to be thankful or we become bitter. 2. We must learn to be thankful or we will become discouraged. 3. We must learn to be thankful or we will grow arrogant and self-satisfied. The Gratitude Attitude In A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Rev. John R. Ramsey tells how in one church a certain person provided him with a rose boutonniere for the lapel of his suit every Sunday. At first he really appreciated it but then it sort of became routine. Then one Sunday it became very special. As he was leaving the Sunday Service a young boy walked up to him and said, "Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?" At first the preacher didn't know what the boy was talking about. When it sank in, he pointed to the rose on his lapel and asked the boy, "Do you mean this?" The boy said, "Yes, sir. If you're just going to throw it away, I would like it." The preacher smiled and told him he could have the flower and then casually asked what he was going to do with it. The boy, who was probably no more than 10 years old, looked up at the preacher and said, "Sir, I'm going to give it to my granny. My mother and father divorced last year. I was living with my mother, but she married again, and wanted me to live with my father. I lived with him for a while, but he said I couldn't stay, so he sent me to live with my grandmother. She is so good to me. She cooks for me and takes care of me. She has been so good to me that I wanted to give her that pretty flower for loving me." When the little boy finished, the preacher could hardly speak. His eyes filled with tears and he knew he had been touched by God. He reached up and unpinned the rose. With the flower in his hand, he looked at the boy and said, "Son, that is the nicest thing that I've ever heard but you can't have this flower because it's not enough. If you'll look in front of the pulpit, you'll see a big bouquet of flowers. Different families buy them for the Church each week. Please take those flowers to your granny because she deserves the very best." Then the boy made one last statement which Rev. Ramsey said he will always treasure. The boy said, "What a wonderful day! I asked for one flower but got a beautiful bouquet." That's the thankful spirit. That's the gratitude attitude. And it's that attitude that should guide our giving and our lives. Like that boy's granny, God has blessed us so much. God has been so good to us that giving shouldn't even be a question. It should just flow from us naturally. John R. Ramsey, Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Adapted by Billy D. Strayhorn, “The Gratitude Attitude" The Source of Thanksgiving I will remind you of that wonderful Children's holiday classic "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." It was released a few years ago as a movie staring Jim Carrey. You'll recall in the story how the Grinch enters all the homes by way of their chimneys disguised as Santa Clause. He takes all the presents and ornaments, the trees and stockings, and even their food down to the last morsel. He drags his loot up to his mountain and then looks down upon Whoville with a sinister grin. He is listening for the cries and wailings of the people to start as they wake up on Christmas morning to discover a Christmas lost. What he hears instead surprises him. Up from the town of the Whos comes a joyful Christmas carol. They are singing. "Why?" he asks. It is because, he learns, Christmas resides not in things but in the heart which is thankful. He could not steal their gratitude. Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com First National Thanksgiving Proclamation Whereas, it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; Whereas, both the houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness!" Now therefore, I do recommend next, to be devoted by the people of the states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be, that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country. George Washington, 1779. Jesus, the Bread of Life, is energized in each one of us by divine yeast by the Spirit of the living God, who sent Christ to be among us, to be for us, to be in us. To benefit fully from this Bread of Life, we must keep our lives, our spirits, "yeasty" vital and ever growing. What can you do to create "yeast" in your soul? Here's one suggestion. Try using "y-e-a-s-t" as an acronym for your spiritual attitude. "Yes." Are you saying "yes" to nourishing possibilities the Bread of Life is offering you? You've heard of the "placebo" effect. It's when your body thinks it's getting something helpful and healing, and so generates a helpful and healing response throughout your system. But scientists are now talking equally about the flip side of the "placebo" effect. They're calling it the "nocebo" effect. It's when your inability to think "yes," your negative mood and outlook, your worried fixation on worst-case scenarios, can keep the "nocebo" effect working in your physiology. (For more on the "nocebo" effect, see the recent book of Harvard Medical School professor Herbert Benson, Timeless Healing [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996].) Because of the "Seven First Words of the Christian" "I can do all things through Christ" a yeasty spirit thinks "YES." "Energize." Why is it that the Energizer Bunny that keeps going and going is always going somewhere else the night the lights go out and you dig out your flashlight?! Unlike batteries, however, a properly maintained yeast colony can keep going and going and going. Ever make sourdough bread using "sourdough starter"? "Starter" is really a combination of yeast cultures, water and flour. You dip out what you need for the day's biscuits, bread or pancakes, give the rest of the starter a stir, "feed" it more flour and water, and tuck it back in your frig. In pioneer days, women treasured their "starter" and nurtured it along for years. Sometimes one starter was passed on from mother to daughter to granddaughter. That's perpetual energy. And that is what the Bread of Life can bring to your own spirit. "Access." In order to be continually fed by the Bread of Life, we must keep in constant touch with the source of life's true energy supply. Living out of the stored power of the Spirit enables us to be fed by Christ's gift any time we need it. We can access this always available power reserve in various ways. For some of us, direct intercessory prayer brings us the closest to God's Spirit and God's love. For others, music opens the soul and sets it resonating with the Spirit. For many, creating and/or contemplating works of art, form within us the prayers that enable us to reach out and grab the gift of life. Stanly Kunitz once called "art" the "chalice into which we pour transcendence" (As quoted by R. Scott Colglazier, Finding a Faith That Makes Sense [St.Louis: Chalice Press], 83). Find your own unique way of accessing the energy of bread ... and you will never go hungry. "Search." Today's crowds thought they were seeking the Bread of Life. All they were really looking for was a free lunch. Jesus' words to them, his corrections and counsel, were intended to make the hungering crowd search their spirits for their true motives and desires. Likewise, when we feel filled-up with power or contentments we should search our own spirits to make certain we are feasting on what God provides, not on what our own egos or selfish desires have cooked up. "Trust." If we are filling up on the Bread of Life, we should be able to trust in the Spirit's presence and power in our lives. It is that trust that allows us to take what appears to others as "risks." Trusting in the Spirit lets us "go for it" when conventional wisdom or cautious hedging would advise us to sit on the sidelines. When our spirits are resting in trust, they can do anything. For we know no matter where we go, no matter what difficulties we may encounter, a constant food supply is always at hand, always guaranteed. Only Jesus can satisfy the hungry heart. Only Jesus has the Words of Eternal Life.